MANY PADRES PLAYERS DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT A GOOD OWNER CAN DO

Of the 25 players on the Padres’ active roster Friday, 10 have been in the major leagues with only one team. Additionally, only half the 12 players currently on the disabled list have been with a team other than the Padres.

All many of these kids know of an owner is the criminally disinterested John Moores, or, I guess for a time, the hamstrung Jeff Moorad.

Either way, the Padres have been sheep in wolves’ clothing — an underfunded, underequipped outfit that at times has been merely posing as a major-league club.

These guys don’t know the person or people running the team can actually spend the kind of money that makes the product better. They don’t know how good that can feel, how much that can mean, the adrenaline shot it can provide.

Transfer of ownership from Moores to the O’Malley/Seidler group is expected to be finalized after the All-Star break. At that time, we’ll still have questions regarding what the O’Malleys are all about. But we’ll know we have an engaged ownership group.

“It’s a great family,” said veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay, who grew up a Dodgers fan. “It’s a great transfer from what John has been able to do. You know what you’re getting from the O’Malleys. It brings to rest the uncertainty and questions. We can get a clearer picture now.”

Kotsay is one of the few players with extensive experience in such matters.

He is the oldest Padre and also the one who’s been in the majors the longest.

The 36-year-old Kotsay is four months younger than Kevin O’Malley and 18 months older than Brian O’Malley. He is the only Padre who was in the majors when the O’Malley brothers’ father and Peter and Tom Seidler’s mother sold the Dodgers in 1997.

And he has played for seven different owners, Moores twice and John Henry twice.

Recently, Kotsay and I spoke of the transformation of the Florida Marlins from arguably the majors’ worst team in the late 1990s to the 2003 World Series champion. While the Marlins’ championship in 1997 was bought on the strength of numerous high-priced veteran free agents, the ’03 team was mostly homegrown.

“The change that happened in Florida was a new owner, John Henry,” said Kotsay, who was with the Marlins from ’97 through 2000. “And they pumped money into player development and the draft.”

Padres players questioned this week clearly were aware of the pending O’Malley ownership — but not preoccupied with it.

Players mostly play. They give thought to ownership when contracts are due and when things aren’t right with the clubhouse spread or the travel accommodations. Those things seem to be in order with the Padres.

What’s not right under Moores, we hopefully don’t have to worry about after next week.